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Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

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Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#31

Post by nabogh »

blippage wrote: post #25

I find the problem with a lot of electronics books is that they are either too deep, or too shallow. Gerry Sussman (yes, that Sussman) explained that the way electronics is taught, and the way engineers think about problems are two separate things. So teaching material tends to fall into two camps: 1) detailed explanations that cover great depth, but are difficult to know how to apply to practical circuits, or 2) cir…

Electronics is a big field. I think it really depends what you want to do in it that will determine the best way to learn it. I'd recommend people start with basic circuit theory then build up to op amps and then diodes, transistors, etc. That was the order I studied it at university at least.

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#32

Post by baybal2 »

I am doing electronics since my first job in 2007, and I never managed to get a university education in it. I greatly regret.

Even 15 years later, I still can't do things every uni grad should be able to through practice, and drill. You will never be as good as an engineer with university education, if you self-study.

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#33

Post by hnthrowaway0315 »

I'm wondering if there is a minimum book of analog electronics for embedded electronics (and especially the hacking of). I dabbed into a Tiva launchpad from last Dec to Feb and went through a beginner textbook, but put the project to suspend as I failed to bit bang a few peripherals so got discouraged. Nevertheless I noticed that I only need a minimum amount of analog electronics, basically:

1. Resistors (of course, for voltage divider mostly)

2. Capacitors (to be connected to power pins to filter, and usually pF/uF for different places. I forgot the "rules" since I haven't touched it for a few months)

3. Diodes (to protect against backward flow)

And that's pretty much it. From my understanding, the pins are also transistors but there is no need to go down that level (only need to know voltage tolerance, output signal strength and such). And even transistors are pretty easy to understand for TTL gates.

To go a bit further, I never read much about Op Amp, but considering you can build logic gates with Op Amps, maybe it not that difficult if I do not need to look into the details? I found anything that can be abstracted into logic gates to be easier to digest, but of course actually building a computer from Op Amp or TTL is still a feat beyond my reach (Ben Eater has a very good series).

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#34

Post by cushychicken »

tinco wrote: post #30
blippage wrote: post #25

I find the problem with a lot of electronics books is that they are either too deep, or too shallow. Gerry Sussman (yes, that Sussman) explained that the way electronics is taught, and the way engineers think about problems are two separate things. So teaching material tends to fall into two camps: 1) detailed explanations that cover great depth, but are difficult to know how to apply to practical circuits, or 2) cir…

At university one of the mandatory courses was Computer Organisation, which teaches how computers are built electronically. Two weeks of that course covered DRAM timings. Recently (almost 15 years later) I was trying to design a simple automation system for my home's ventilation system, and for it I needed to pull my logic signal up to 10v using a FET. I had absolutely no idea how to do that. It's absolutely crazy th…

There is a real case where someone could go a whole career in EE knowing a ton about DRAM timings and nothing about pulling up FET switches to the proper voltage.

I know - I've met them!

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#35

Post by Sporktacular »

A lot of these guys start with the function they need a circuit to fulfil and learn just enough to select and integrate it into the project, so at the block diagram level. In those cases learning circuit design is overkill when learning how to select one (from a circuit cookbook) by understanding functional and integration parameters, customising and modifying it after reverse engineering are sufficient.

Akin to a course in driving rather than car design. Not sure how many books approach it that way but for a lot of people building fully customised electronic circuits is too much effort.

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#36

Post by igorkraw »

hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #33

I'm wondering if there is a minimum book of analog electronics for embedded electronics (and especially the hacking of). I dabbed into a Tiva launchpad from last Dec to Feb and went through a beginner textbook, but put the project to suspend as I failed to bit bang a few peripherals so got discouraged. Nevertheless I noticed that I only need a minimum amount of analog electronics, basically: 1. Resistors (of course,…

There is: Horowitz celebrated "art of electronics" https://artofelectronics.net/

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#38

Post by donthellbanme »

This is advice for hobbyists. Guys who want to tinker, wire their home, and fix their car, and maybe fix that broken radio.

I have found most people are rusty when it comes to Electronics, and electricity.

The Art of Electronics, and it's lab, is very long. I was shocked when I heard Harvard Students completed it in 1 semester. It's recommended here a lot though. There's nothing wrong with it other than being written years ago. I don't like the part on computers, and solid state electronics. (I'm too lazy to pull out my copy, but would love to know how it's possible by a ex student. Maybe it's a two semester course? It's in the foreword to anyone interested.)

If you just want a decent understanding of electricity, I like the "Make" publications. Throw in the Dummies whatever on Electronics.

The US navy also has a decent books too. They are free.

If wiring a house/building pick up a copy of Ugly's, and Dewalt Electrical code reference. Make sure you know how a 3 way switch works before putting the books down. For some reason a three way switch is Greek to a lot of people.

If you are really suppose to know this stuff, but feel like a fraud, pick up Electricial Engineering 101 Everything you should have learned in school but didn't.

I don't have a recommendation for working on automobiles though. Even though the basics of electronics will get you through most problems you will encounter when working on your vechicle, I am still looking for an in-depth manual. Something that goes deep into the computers of our vechicles. The books recommended to mechanics just skim over a lot of the complicated stuff. There's a need for an in-depth book on electric vehicles. I'm always looking for anything Tesla, but it's all priority? Or, very high priced information. Elon if you ever read this; we love, and respect you. Us shade tree mechanics are salivating over your engineer's repair info. There are a lot of hot rod types that want to get your salvaged vechices back on the road. And no you don't inside info to get a crashed Tesla up and running, but it would be nice. We might remember the favor when there's more competition?

It's all about manipulating OHM's law. Again--it's all about OHM's law for the theory. Don't make it more complicated than needed.

Learning about resistors, caps, potentiometers, etc. is pretty basic.

Oh yea, a nice DVOM, like Fluke 88, and a power source, will make your life easier. You don't need a Fluke 88 with all the attachments. I got one in Reno for $75.00, and just love the quality of the instrument. I truly feel if a guy likes their tooling it just makes solving a problem less of a hassle.

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#39

Post by oytis »

lysp wrote: post #14

One book I saw mentioned a lot in relation to learning electronics is this one: https://artofelectronics.net/ Reviews state it's basically an encyclopedia of knowledge.

Honestly, I've never found a good use for this book. It explains too little to use it as a textbook to learn the subject, but it misses a lot of important things to be a good reference too. And it's focus on analog circuit design makes it irrelevant for most of the modern careers. Yeah, there is student's companion etc., but also there are books available that are just better in this regard.

Re: Electronics Explained: Fundamentals for engineers, technicians and makers (2018)

#40

Post by mcnugget »

cushychicken wrote: post #34
tinco wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At university one of the mandatory courses was Computer Organisation, which teaches how computers are built electronically. Two weeks of that course covered DRAM timings. Recently (almost 15 years later) I was trying to design a simple automation system for my home's ventilation system, and for it I needed to pull my logic signal up to 10v using a FET. I had absolutely no idea how to do that. It's absolutely crazy th…

There is a real case where someone could go a whole career in EE knowing a ton about DRAM timings and nothing about pulling up FET switches to the proper voltage. I know - I've met them!

Real world effects of parasitics are underated. Found out the hard way that there's a whole lot of pain involved with hot plugging a battery into a board when there's a modular switch mode power supply onboard. Oh, you have a low esr ceramic cap on the input? Lol, the parasitic inductances of your wire and traces have formed a tank circuit and pushed the input voltage well above the unhappy voltage of something. K, you fixed that part, nope, lol, your inrush current is actually 15A because you had 68uF on the output of the smps and somehow you burnt out the internal fet of the smps module. Goddam nearly flipped a table.
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